On October 29, 2006, s/v Whisper left on a two and 1/2 year journey from Pasadena, MD through the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and the West Indies. Her crew consists of Hans Eriksson, Kristen Miller and KitKat.

18 February 2007

We’re at anchor in Marsh Harbour sitting out a cold front which NOAA has forecasted to have gale strength winds. We’ve tucked Whisper behind a marina so there is minimal waves, though the wind has been reported at 40 knots. It is as comfortable as can be on Whisper and we feel very safe and warm. We went over to a neighboring boat, a 26 foot Falmouth Cutter. A.O. and his wife, Lindy, treated us to coffee, cake and hot chocolate and lots of small boat discussion. Their boat is very seaworthy and is built with safety as the top priority. A huge bank of black clouds appeared on the horizon indicating the frontal boundary, so we jumped in our dinghy and sped back to Whisper.

We played a good game of Scrabble (score: Kristen 1, Hans 4. arrrrrggghhhhh, says Kristen!). Now we’re about to have a lunch of split pea soup and homemade tortillas. Kit Kat just finished a huge, unauthorized lunch of Iams. Unbeknownst to the competitive Scrabble players, she climbed into a locker under the vee-berth, clawed through two plastic bags and a food bag and gorged herself. Now she is exhausted and sleeping in the clothes locker (or, she’s just hiding from the wrath of Kristen and Hans who are tempted to lock her outside).

Our stay in Marsh Harbour has been extended by the discovery of a crack in the forward chainplate (the piece of stainless steel that holds the forestay to the bow and in turn helps hold the mast up). We had read about this weakness in Vegas on the Vega listserv and contemplated beefing up the chainplate before leaving Maryland, but it looked fine and we decided that we couldn’t replace *everything* on Whisper. Since we knew about this weakness, Hans has been keeping an eye on it and he found the crack before any serious problem (dismasting!) could develop. There is a welding shop here so it should hopefully be a straightforward job and we can start traveling to more scenic harbours soon.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Whatever you do, make sure you remember where all the cat food is stored. When we got back to Texas from our first cruise (on which our cats Tigger and Fluffy had accompanied us), we cleared most of our stuff from on board, including leftover cat food (vacuum sealed in plastic bags) . . .but, we neglected to locate one bag shoved waaaay in the back of an out of the way locker. Regrettably, several months later (we didn't get to the boat much for a few months, thanks at least in part to Skadden), Liberty had a terrible roach problem, and I eventually discovered the bag of food - and the roaches had chewed through the plastic and chowed down.

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About Whisper"s crew

Hans:Raised in Northern Sweden by fearless sailors and descended from a wooden boat builder, Hans spent more time as a kid skiing, fishing and terrorizing his younger sisters than sailing. After protecting the father land by serving as a medic/machine gunner in the highly ironic Swedish military, he was off to the United States for college where he met Kristen.

Kristen:Raised in land-locked Southern Vermont by a Brit and a Vermonter, Kristen sailed sunfishes at summer camp but spent most of her childhood playing in the snow in the winter and building forts and dams in the woods in the summer. After college, the allure of living on a boat in the tropics was much more appealing than 3 years of law school and the inevitable debt.

Walking along the waterfront in Stockholm in the summer of 2001, the two would-be voyagers hatched their plan and worked towards it until their departure in November of 2006.

Kit Kat:Reared in the backwoods of Northwestern Montana, Kit Kat had never seen the ocean until thrust down Whisper's companionway on October 23rd 2006. In spite of constant hunger, she has adapted remarkably well to the life of a boat cat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.You're so young. How can you afford doing this at your age? A.The simple answer is prioritizing. We were lucky to chose the cruising lifestyle before we graduated from college, so nearly every major decision was based on our future plans afloat. All of our purchases (and lack thereof), career decisions, location and lifestyle were aimed at saving money for a 2 year sabbatical from the "real world." Once we found ourselves in the right place (Washington, D.C.) and in the right jobs (Hans: photography, Kristen: paralegal), we started saving money by living well below our means.

Q. Don't you get sick of each other?A. 99.9 % of the time, no. Of course we have the occasional disagreement or misunderstanding but we're quite happy most of the time.

Q. Don't you think that you're going to get bored?A. No, not really. There's always something to do on the boat, or another place to go with new friends to meet.

Q. What about storms? Isn't it very dangerous?A. Try driving on the beltway at rush-hour! Sailing is very safe as long as you aren't on a schedule. Weather patterns are generally predictable, and we have the luxury of waiting for good weather before setting off on the next leg of our journey.

Q. What about Kit-Kat? How does she like the cruising life?A. Contrary to her occasional blog posts, she likes it just fine on the boat. When things get a bit bumpy she finds a safe spot to wedge herself. When we're at anchor, she has the run of the boat, and enjoys lying in the sun and stalking the seagulls. No... she hasn't fallen in the water yet.

Q. So, did you both grow up sailing?A. Not really. We both spent a couple of summers in our childhoods sailing on little dinghies, but nothing that would have prepared us for sailing a boat like Whisper. We learned through copious amounts of reading, and by trial and error on the Chesapeake Bay in the past two years. Lessons are for sissies!

Q. What will you do after cruising?A. We don't really know yet, although we both agree that having all this time will help us make a very deliberate decision about our future. Of course, if there are any "get rich quick" schemes out there send them our way!Update: Hans is starting medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia; Kristen is busy looking for work in Philadelphia and writing articles for sailing magainzes. Again, we're open to any and all "get rich quick" schemes!